Business · 3 min read

AOB: 01 February 2019

31 January 2019

What are the big stories in commerce? And what do they mean for your business? AOB helps you stay ahead of the curve – here are this week’s top five cultural insights and e-commerce trends from around the world.

Fashion meets function

In 2019, it’s not enough to have a high-quality, useful product – it has to be designed beautifully too. For a generation who post photos of absolutely everything online, even the most innocuous technology accessories should look good enough to share on social media. That’s why brands like Le Cord are making sleek, stylish smartphone cables in a range of millennial-friendly colors. Nils have even gone one step further, creating luxury cables that can also be worn as bracelets. So, if you want to take your brand to the next level this year, you'll have to consider fashion and functionality in equal parts.

Listen to our podcast series for more insights into the fashion business.

Saying ‘no’ to sugar

From ‘Veganuary’ to ‘Fizz Free February’: the monthly challenge trend continues. Next month, celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and the UK Labour Party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, are coming together to banish super-sweet sodas in an effort to save our teeth and our waistlines. The campaign is mainly aimed at children and young adults, after figures have been released showing a 70% rise in the number of teenagers with diabetes in only four years. This presents an ideal opportunity to offer up sugar-free alternatives to the market, whether that's a drink, treat or snack bar, helping to keep your customers and your profits healthy this February.

Germany to become 6th largest mCommerce market

With a growth rate of 16% per year, German mCommerce is set to be worth €44.3bn by 2022 according to new data from Worldpay, Inc. – putting it in sixth place behind China, the US, the UK, France and India. This age of mobile shopping is being driven by new payment methods such as e-invoicing, which Worldpay found to be the fastest growing payment method among Germans. To take advantage of this, make sure your German mobile site is fully optimized and adapted to the local market – it’s especially important to offer country-specific payment options to avoid cart abandonment at checkout.

Inclusive streetwear in China

In the West, streetwear has been known to suffer from ‘misogynistic undertones’, but China is turning this on its head with female-centric collections. Exhibitions, talks and product launches in the country have seen a huge focus on women, with Nike and Converse both launching womenswear lines there in 2018. However, if you’re looking to take the streetwear revival in China even further, experts advise that ‘genderlessness’ is what Chinese fashionistas find most appealing. Edison Chen, Founder and Director of Innersect, says: “If it looks good, I wear it.” – summarizing new, fluid attitudes towards street fashion in young shoppers.

For more information on how to access the spending power of Chinese millennials, read our article.

Time for tea

While coffee has long taken center stage in the specialist hot drink arena, with choices spanning from gingerbread lattes to charcoal cappuccinos, fancy tea is making a comeback in 2019. A niche product no longer, in Britain, 37% of 25-34-year-olds have tried five to six different types of tea, with many varieties targeting women in particular. There is also a trend for teas that claim additional health benefits along with their great taste, allowing customers to align themselves with a more spiritual lifestyle.

For example, European herbal tea brand Yogi Tea offers ‘medicinal’ blends with ingredients that are designed to promote ‘balance’, ‘energy’ and ‘inner harmony'. So, if your range is still limited to the standard flavors, perhaps it’s time to branch out with some new herbal selections.